Installing Git — Windows
Git is a software for tracking changes in any set of files. It is a version control software. Usually use for versioning source code of a software being delevopped. Also a must for teams working on the same project. Usually use with GitHub. Where Git is the client software and GitHub is the cloud hosting part.
Prerequisites
- Windows system with administrator rights.
Please note that the commands and website instructions described in this post may be used for other operating system than Windows.
Install Git CLI client (Recommended)
Download
To install Git CLI you will need to head over Git-scm.com. There you can find the version for your operating system (OS).
1- It should automatically detect your OS.
2- If the button 1 does not appear or do not detect the right OS, select your OS in the list.
Install
Once downloaded, run the automatic installer you just downloaded. You need to have administrator rights to do so.
Once the Windows admin rights confirm (or not depending your settings) you will have this window helping you installing Git.
In this story the current Git version is 2.31.1.
1- On this first page you will be greeted by the General Public License.
This section tell you what you can and cannot do with the software Git.
Once read, click Next.
2- The second page ask you where you want to install the software. If you are unsure, leave it by default.
If you have more than one drive, you may want to install it there to reduce the usage of your primary system drive C:\.
Once your choice is made, press Next.
3- The third page ask you if you want to change some settings including components and desktop icon.
Make sure to check On or Off if you want a Git desktop icon. It can always be added later on.
All the already checked is the recommended settings.
You may check the two last box to your liking.
4- On this page, I recommend to not change the name and to not check the check box below.
If checked, there will be no Git folder in your start menu. Wihchi mean you maynot be able to find it there even with search. You will need to go to the installation path to open it manually.
5- Using Git you MAY need to edit some file into a text editor. Git use VIM by default. VIM is relatively hard to use. I really recommend to use either Microsoft Visual Studio (community or code or Rider) or simply Notepad++.
I personnally use Notepad++. To learn more about this text editor and how to install it visit this story I made.
Note that Git will look for the editor first. It means that if the software is not currently installed Git installer will not let you press Next. Install your favorite editor first.
6- On this page the installer will ask you about with default name you want to use for new repository. The first option will use the current official default name.
The second one let you choose which name you want. It is recommend to use main.
Please note that in this story I am using “Main” as the name of the default branch. You may encounter elsewhere that people are using “Master”. Master was the default branch name for long years, but since recently, many platform like GitHub are trying to remove words that can be harmful to certain people.
On that note, it mean that older projects may keep the Master or the new Main. Both have the same meaning. You may see both terms. Both meaning the same, but Main will be .
7- On these I recommend to let the defaut options as they are. To get more informations on what theses options mean go to Git Docs. At the last step named Configuring experimental options the next button will be change to install. Once you click on this button, Git will install.
8- Then here it is. The last page that confirm the installation was a success. You may click on finish. The window will close and Git is installed. To use Git you may want to use it with GitHub. Go here for using Git with GitHub.
Note that you will need to have an GitHub account to use GitHub. To do so, go to this story.
Alternatively — Install GitHub Desktop
If you don’t want to fiddle with command lines, you can also install the official GitHub Desktop client. Note that many advance features are not available in the Graphical version.
The installations steps are pretty similars.